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1998 A4 2.8 Quattro Automatic Tranny woes.....

I am in a position to inherit what I think is a good car, a 1998 Audi A4 2.8 Quattro. The Pros, car looks great, the CONS, pissing oil as it runs, bottom of engine is coated in oil, and the biggie, shifting into D or R, car does not move.... The car was taken to a local mechanic, and told the current owner, tranny is bad, and its 4K to fix it. The book value on the car is about that.... Car has 200k miles by the way, and the maintenance was less than adequate. I am looking for a project for the summer and think this might be a good one. I don't think the tranny is done, maybe a bad Torque Convertor, but no way 4K worth of repairs. What are the experts on the forums thoughts on this ride? Should i accept the car or not. I am farely mechanical, and can read a manual, not afraid to ask questions, and google anything. I am really hoping it is something very simple, and the mechanic was trying to pull a fast one....... thoughts please!!

I appreciate the reply and with you... 4k???? I know there is substantial oil leaks so I was going to pull the tranny or motor or both... Which is easier? I saw online you pull the radiator support and go from there. I've done a lot of v8's and I worked on my c5 vette, so man built it, man can fix it right???!!!

Seems like this car needs a 5-speed swap, probably a t-belt + water pump job, and some Valve cover gaskets. Excellent free car, I'd say. As long as you are very excited about doing some work yourself. If you're going to pay for labor, just wash and wax it, sell it on Craigslist, and get a Corolla.

My official suggestion is to forget the slushbox and just 5-speed swap this pig like it's your job.

Seems like this car needs a 5-speed swap, probably a t-belt + water pump job, and some Valve cover gaskets. Excellent free car, I'd say. As long as you are very excited about doing some work yourself. If you're going to pay for labor, just wash and wax it, sell it on Craigslist, and get a Corolla.

My official suggestion is to forget the slushbox and just 5-speed swap this pig like it's your job.

I love the idea of making it a stick as opposed to the slushbox. First step is to get the car, and find a home for it. I wish I had a toy room like you had when you did your swap.... Gotta move the boat out of the way, and make room for this project!! More to follow. Question when you do a swap like this, what does the computer think when auto is gone, and the 5speed is in place? Also I guess I am in the market for all the parts needed for this, so if anyone has anything they are interested in selling, let me know. Thank you.

I love the idea of making it a stick as opposed to the slushbox. First step is to get the car, and find a home for it. I wish I had a toy room like you had when you did your swap.... Gotta move the boat out of the way, and make room for this project!! More to follow. Question when you do a swap like this, what does the computer think when auto is gone, and the 5speed is in place? Also I guess I am in the market for all the parts needed for this, so if anyone has anything they are interested in selling, let me know. Thank you.

The computer also thinks a 5MT swap is a fantastic idea. Just ask him!

But no, there are no "computer issues". It is a very simple "recode" that takes an entire 30 seconds to complete. It turns your "auto ecu" into a "manual ecu" instantly. After that, you just unplug the transmission computer (the recoded ecu no longer cares to talk to it). The final step is to recode the instrument cluster so it doesn't show the PRND432 display. This is a case where Audi has made the electronics so advanced that it is actually makes it *easier* to swap.

This was actually the main reaction I got from the locals when I did my swap (I live in a low-budget area where there are few Audi's and fewer Audi mechanics). Everyone was like "You can do that?!", and I say "yes". And then they ask "But what about the COMPUTERS!? It's an Audi, doesn't it have like a THOUSAND computers? And what about all the WIRES? It's going to impossible to make that work!". (I'm paraphrasing here, and adding emphasis where comical). But in reality, that was the *easiest* part of the swap BY FAR. There are literally zero codes caused by the swap. The only wiring to do is for reverse lights and cruise control, and I made a separate DIY guide for each.

Walky.... mine is a 2.8 Quattro...any issues there? I have called over Southern California and so far only found one 5spd, guy wants 1000.00 for complete package to do the swap. He is about 50 miles from me. What do you think? Is that a fair price? I am so ready to get started, but want to make sure I know what I am getting in to first. The car should be in my possession by this weekend. Maybe I can fly you to Cali to help me!!!!